Fast food outlets often provide a display sign comprising a menu of the products available and photographs of those products behind the counter of the outlet at approximately head height. The signs are often backlit using a light box to create an illuminated display. In one existing display system, the front of the display comprises an acrylic panel which defines a series of pairs of rails or the like into which printed display panels can be inserted. The panels indicate the name of a product such as "cheeseburger". The price of that product is also printed on a panel and is also inserted between the rails aligned with the name of the product. If the price changes, the panel which displays the price can be removed and replaced with a new panel showing the new price. In some more sophisticated display systems, individual figures on the pricing panel can be removed and replaced. Thus, for example, a price of $2.30 could be amended to read $2.35 by simply removing the end "0" and replacing it with a "5".
There are two problems with the existing display system described above. First, it is quite complex, compared with just printing a menu and is consequently expensive. Secondly, the arrangement of rails and panels is relatively bulky and occupies much of the surface area of the light box display leaving less space for the display of photographs of the products available at the outlet. This is generally undesirable as often the product photographs "sell the product" more than the printed menu and generally the more photographs displayed, the better the product sales are at a particular outlet. Also, since the display is modular, its appearance is not as uniform and smart as a simple printed panel displaying the same information would be.
Ideally, the display should be as professional looking as possible with all the names and prices horizontally and vertically aligned in correct registration to give a good impression to customers. A scruffy menu display might give customers the impression that the outlet's standards, including perhaps its hygiene standards, were low.
If instead of having a display where the prices and names of products can be changed, a printed sheet displaying all the current menu information is used, the lettering takes up less surface area than the rails and panels. The same information can be displayed on a smaller surface area and the menu display can be smaller, allowing more pictures to be displayed on the light box. Justification of the product names, and horizontal and vertical alignment of the product names and prices can be more accurately controlled. The overall appearance is also more professional and smarter than having removable prices. The printed sheet menu display can be backlit more effectively by the light box. However, the problem with such a printed menu is that if the price of any of the products is to be changed, whether permanently, or in the case of a special promotion temporarily, the entire display sign has to be reprinted.
It is an object of the present invention to alleviate the disadvantages of the prior art discussed above and provide an improved printed display sign.